Press Release

Telecommunications Industry First: A Single, Integrated Software Suite to Plan, Design and Optimize Next-Generation Telecommunication Networks Introduced by VPIsystems

OnePlan^TM Links Engineering, Provisioning, Purchasing, Business Planning and Marketing Demands Associated with Building the Next Generation of Communications Networks

Holmdel, New Jersey (November 20, 2006) - VPIsystems, the only provider of integrated capacity and network planning software and services for the global telecommunications industry, introduced today its OnePlan^TM network planning software system. In a departure from industry practice, OnePlan allows telecommunications providers to integrate technology planning, marketing demands, equipment resources and financial requirements associated with new network build-outs. Prior to OnePlan, telecommunications providers relied upon a patchwork of software tools to plan and manage different aspects of a network build.

"Over the next 5 years, the top 100 communications services providers in the world will invest hundreds of billions of dollars in next-generation networks to deliver new convergent IP-based services," stated Larry Goldman of OSS Observer. "A few forward-looking service providers have already started implementing integrated network planning, but virtually all of them will have to revamp their network planning to make their networks capable of supporting convergent IP-based services."

Since the company's founding in 1997, VPIsystems has provided software and engineering expertise to virtually every major national and international carrier. The company's software has helped carriers build telecommunications networks, optimize performance of those networks, manage ongoing network operations and introduce new customer services. By combining domain expertise gained within each disparate area of network planning, VPIsystems created the OnePlan software system to integrate every aspect of the highly complex planning process. Because most carriers are currently considering a transition to Internet Protocol (IP) based telecommunications networks, VPIsystems created OnePlan to help carriers more rapidly transition from older network technologies to new IP-based networks.

"OnePlan is the result of years of development and collaboration with carriers around the globe," said Hank Firey, CEO, VPIsystems. "Our goal at the outset was simple—give carriers a single software platform to plan every aspect of migration to next-generation networks. From planning technical architecture, through the delivery and management of new multi-media services, we wanted OnePlan to provide a single view into every piece of the puzzle. The result is the simplification of an incredibly complex planning and deployment process."

Firey continued, "What drove us toward OnePlan was input from our carrier customers telling us that the lack of close integration between engineering, marketing and network operations departments made it very challenging to build network capacity in the right places, and introduce new services at the right time. With OnePlan we are moving a giant step toward building demand-aligned networks. For example, vital network utilization information can now be coordinated with marketing plans and 'what-if' analysis for new, multimedia service introductions. OnePlan will reduce investment risk by many factors because carriers can measure the demand for new services as they are introduced, and increase, or moderate, network capacity growth in step with their marketing initiatives—almost in real-time."

Using a modular design, OnePlan provides a scalable solution that can be used to plan a single network technology, or plan a high-availability system spanning multiple network layers. In both extremes, OnePlan automates all network planning by showing what is possible with current network resources and what resources must be added where and when. In addition, engineering and decommissioning activities can also be planned using OnePlan, all from a central point where planning and implementation teams can collaborate. And, OnePlan can interface with the existing inventory systems and utilize their specific equipment libraries for determining current capacity.

Many of the individual modules contained within OnePlan have been in use in carriers worldwide for several years. Bell Canada and Telstra are notable in their use of the integrated OnePlan system.

Users of OnePlan

Business Strategy Executives estimate investment allocation and time to profitability for new build-outs or new service offerings using OnePlan
Strategic Network Planners consider the effects of various business policies on the design and deployment of new network technologies and services using OnePlan
Carrier Network Planners create "what-if" scenarios to determine equipment, capacity, future requirements and Quality of Service (QoS) guarantee limits using OnePlan
Marketing Planners plan new service pricing, availability, and roll-out timing using OnePlan's unique ability to do "what-if" modeling of take-rate scenarios
Equipment Vendors design minimum-cost networks for prospective customers in response to an RFP using OnePlan
System Integrators design next-generation networks for carriers quickly and efficiently using OnePlan

More information about OnePlan and about VPIsystems can be found at www.vpisystems.com.

About VPIsystems, Inc.
VPIsystems is the only provider of integrated capacity and network planning software and services for the global telecommunications industry. The company's OnePlan^TM software system gives telecommunications and multi-service providers the ability to cohesively plan the financial, technical and marketing aspects of their network evolution, for all current and future network types. Headquartered in Holmdel, NJ, and with offices in Europe, Asia, and Australia, VPIsystems' software is used by over 150 communications service providers and network equipment manufacturers to assess current and future capacity needs, and optimally plan their QoS-constrained service networks and underlying transport infrastructure. For further information, visit us at www.vpisystems.com.